


Figments and Fragments

by Tish



Category: Sapphire and Steel
Genre: Forests, Gen, Hidden Things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-28 21:01:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17794673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tish/pseuds/Tish
Summary: Someone and something's in the forest that shouldn't be there. The Elements investigate.





	Figments and Fragments

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thisbluespirit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisbluespirit/gifts).



Silence. Even the sounds from the road had faded away, seemingly muted by the fog bank that shrouded the canopy of trees above her.

Gray and brown were her world's colours now, but a keen eye could make out the subtle shades of the forests around her.

The tan bark of a branch reached up into the almost invisible sky, darker brown patches wove their way around the tree's base, the roots descending into the undergrowth.

The sturdy branch she had picked up a few moments ago felt heavy enough to lean on, yet light enough to grip with ease as she trekked. She shifted her thumb and felt the smoothness of it against her skin.

Life seemed on hold here, a pause while the winter set in and the plant life regenerated itself. Silver-gray and white would give way to blue skies and lush greenery, the dancing red and blue of birds and butterflies in the spring. The songs and calls of mating wildlife would soon echo here, but for now, the forest rested.

Map and compass in hand, Nicole examined the contours as they grew closer together, then lifted her eyes to a section of the forest to her right and saw the steep drop of the path into a dell.

A nod, a shrug of her rucksack, and she set off down the slope, the fallen leaves crunching underfoot as she strode along.

Blissful solitude was her gift to herself. Everyday life was a short trek away, with the trucks on the carriageway on one side of the forest, and the intercity train line on the other. If she walked straight through the middle, she'd find herself back in suburbia.

Nicole walked on, feeling as though she were entering a dream, yet she felt fully awake. She passed through a dense cluster of trees and out the other side to find an unexpected sight.

An old, moss-covered building lay before her, the walls starting to crumble slightly, half the roof decayed and slumped to the ground within. The surviving part of the steeply pitched roof indicated it might have been a church long, long ago.

She looked down at the ordinance survey map, only half-expecting it to be indicated there. Something flickered in the corner of her eye, but when she looked up, there was nothing there. Her map tucked away, she went over, fallen leaves crunching underfoot as she walked.

She reached a doorway and nearly leapt out of her skin as a red-haired man turned around.

“Hello, we appear to have a visitor. Do you mind if I have a look at that?” Silver gave her a friendly smile and pointed to her hand.

She looked down, puzzled.

“Your compass. May I?” Silver motioned towards it.

“Wait, what? Hey, it's spinning like mad,” Nicole said as she let him take it.

“Yes,” Silver replied as he examined it. “There's some fascinating geomagnetic anomalies around here. I'm Silver, by the way. That's Sapphire, and the gentleman with the frown is Steel.”

“My name's Nicole, I didn't expect to see anyone at all out here, let alone anyone who look like they've just stepped out of an office dinner party,” Nicole said as she took the sight of the new arrivals in.

Sapphire smiled and smoothed down her dress. “Yes, I suppose we aren't exactly dressed for hiking, are we? Have you noticed anything unusual around here?”

“Apart from you guys, no, I don't--” Nicole stopped suddenly. “Is he with you, too?” she whispered as she pointed to a figure behind them.

Steel whipped around just as the figure disappeared, and he looked back at Nicole accusingly. Sapphire had stayed looking at Nicole, but seemed to be listening to something.

“Could you describe this man, Nicole?” Sapphire finally asked.

“Old and bedraggled. Dressed like a monk. Looked like Catweazle, actually,” Nicole said.

“No, no this is all wrong,” the monk said as he appeared behind them again. “You cannot be here.”

Steel cautiously approached the man. “We are here to try and fix whatever is wrong. You are in the wrong time period, this young woman belongs here, not you.”

The monk rubbed something metallic in hands as he shook his head, “Where is the priory garden? I did not do this. _He_ should not be here, either.”

Sapphire took his hand. “We can see you are confused, but we can help you.” _He is real, not a ghost. Mid 10_ _th_ _Century. The metal object is from the mid 20_ _th_ _Century._

Nicole edged closer to Silver, so he handed back her compass. “What is going on?”

“It appears to be a time anomaly. Our monk here had gone on a journey in time,” he answered.

“May I see that object?” Steel asked, turning it over as the monk handed it to him. “Silver?”

“The tree grew through it,” the monk answered. “This part fell off.”

Silver examined it carefully, brow furrowed and silent.

“Can you show us the tree?” Steel said.

As they moved outside, Nicole followed with Silver. “There's a bit of red, some white, and some blue. It's all faded, but it looks familiar,” she said as she looked at the metal.

“Do you recognise the pattern?” Silver asked. “It dates from about 1940.”

“Middle of the war, there's an old RAF airfield nearby. This place is probably littered with bits of planes that fell off,” Nicole replied.

They had stopped at a tree overlooking a thick pile of shrubbery. Sapphire gave Silver a look and he looked up, then looked at Steel.

Steel sighed irritably in response to an unspoken question, “That's not my area.”

Nicole caught Sapphire's small smile as she raised her eyes. High in the tree something glistened. When Nicole looked back to Steel, she was surprised to find Silver had disappeared. She looked up again and her mouth dropped open in shock. Silver was balanced on a branch high above them, and had prised a larger wedge of metal from the branch. She stared at Sapphire and was about to ask a question when there was a small silver flash, and Silver was beside her again, holding the metal wedge.

“Hawker Hurricane, the tree grew through the hole,” Silver tapped the metal panel against the side of the tree.

Agitated, the monk spoke again, “I said before, and you heard but did not listen. He should not be here.”

Steel stared into the monk's eyes. “The metal shard didn't fall from a plane. A plane fell, didn't it? It crashed.”

“The pilot is here, isn't he?” Sapphire's voice softened. “He was never found and died alone.”

Nicole stared at the dense undergrowth. “So, there's a whole WW2 plane under all that?”

Standing at the edge of the tangled roots and shrubs, Sapphire held out a hand. “It came down mostly intact. No fire. It was quick and painless. Then the forest reclaimed it.”

“He should not be here,” the monk said sorrowfully.

“He'll have a family that can bury him now. At least they'll have that,” Nicole could barely speak above a whisper as the tears came.

Silver handed over the metal fragments. “We'll leave these in your capable hands.”

As Nicole cradled the fragments to her, Sapphire gently touched her shoulder, then everyone disappeared. Silence settled over the forest once again.

 


End file.
